Shadow Summoner
by Hi no Hime
Summary: Souji returns to Inaba, but so does the fog. Will Souji and his firends, along with some mysterious new persona users be able to stop this new evil before the world falls into a foggy wastland? Read and find out. Rated T for safty.
1. It begins

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

A/N: This is my first attempt at a chapter story, and only my second upload. Sorry if anyone seems ooc. Please reveiw, I can't fix what I don't know.

Summery- Souji returns to Inaba, just in time for a new mystery, and a new enemy

The rain is pouring down so hard I can barely see where I am going. I am running, running as fast as I possibly can, trying to make it in time. I am trying not to think about what would happen if I don't get there before they do; what they would do to her. I pushed myself to run faster, my legs crying out from beneath me, but I pay it no heed. I just have to get there. I have to.

Now you may be wondering why it is that I am trying so hard, well it all started two weeks ago.

It was summer vacation, and I had convinced my parents to let me go back to Inaba. They didn't really understand why I would want to spend my summer in such a backwater town, but they let me go just the same. To say the least, I was excited; I was getting to see all of my friends again, my family again, and HER again. I knew it had only been a few months but I was missing them all so bad. Sure we had stayed in touch; phone calls, e-mails, even the occasional letter, but it just wasn't the same as getting to see them in person.

The train ride was just as long and boring as I remembered it, but this time going to Inaba wasn't an imposition, it was like returning home. My heart almost stopped once I caught sight of the familiar surroundings, knowing that soon I would be back where I belonged. None of my friends knew that I was coming. Dojima-san was suppose to gather everyone at the house, under the rues that Nanako-chan was lonely and wanted some friends over. I knew that after everything that happened last year, there was no way they would say no.

As the train pulled up to the station, I saw my uncle waiting for me. When I got onto the platform he quickly grabbed me into a hug, when I returned it he let go and laughed.

"It's only been a few months since you left, but I have to admit, I really did miss you kid. So did Nanako of course, the house just doesn't seem the same without you. Come on I told the others that I just had to run to the office real quick, and it's already been 45 minutes. Let's get going" he said with a smile.

"Alright lead the way Detective Sir" I said back jokingly. He laughed again. "Who all came? I'm sure not everyone was able to make it."

"You're right, Kujikawa-san won't be back for another week, due to her schedule, and Naoto-kun is working a case right now, but she did say she will be back in town tomorrow." My face fell slightly, of all the people I wanted to see there was none more important to me than Naoto. But I perked up; he did say that she would be back tomorrow. I couldn't wait to see her, and what a surprise it would be.

As we headed back to the car he went on, "Oh and Amagi-chan wasn't there when I left, she was helping out at the inn, but according to Satonaka-san, she should be there by the time we get back."

"Cool, I can't wait to see everyone. It's too bad about Rise-chan and Naoto-kun though. Oh well, we can have a full reunion when they get back. Do you know anything about the case she's working on?"

"I'm assuming you are talking about Shirogane, and no she didn't say much about it. Just that it shouldn't take to long. And besides, it's not any of your business her case is about." He said sternly.

I looked at him; we had reached the car and stared off towards town.

"I know it's none of my business, I just worry, that's all. It's just like her to get into something dangerous and not ask for any help. I don't want to see her hurt." I looked down at my feet, trying not to see his reaction. To my surprise, he laughed again.

"Hahahahaha. Look I know you care about her, and that you don't want her injured, but she knows what she is doing. She's trained her whole life to do exactly what she is doing. She keeps a gun with her at all times, and most important she knows that you would be there the second she needs help; whether she asks for it or not. She is a smart girl; you have nothing to worry about." I knew what he was saying, but I just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen, and whatever it was it centered on Naoto and her case.


	2. Friend's Reunion

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Chapter 2: Friend's Reunion

We pulled into the driveway and I could already hear my friends in the house. From the sounds of it Teddie and just stolen one of Kanji's Topsicles. Nanako was laughing at their antics; Chie was yelling at them, Yukiko had just joined Nanako's laughter, and Yosuke had just been run over by Teddie. I laughed to myself as Dojima and I walked to the door. When we got inside, everything was just as I remembered it.

"HEY! What's going on here?" yelled my uncle, as he saw the destruction the others had caused. They all froze where they were, and looked at him.

Then suddenly I hear, "BIG BROTHER!" Nanako came rushing at me almost knocking me over. Soon followed by Teddie, and then slowly the other's joined them.

"Sensei, I can't believe it, YOU'RE BACK! I missed you BEARY-much." Teddie exclaimed, nearly suffocating me in a hug. As I was turning blue Yukiko came to my rescue.

"Teddie I know you are glad to see him again, but he still needs to breathe." Teddie then noticed my predicament and let me go. "Come on, let him get inside. We can talk to him after he has a chance to sit down." I chuckled under my breath.

"Yukiko you are a life saver." As I said that she blushed lightly.

"Well you know, can't let our leader die from lack of oxygen." That time I laughed out. The others were quick to follow suit. That's when it really hit me, I really missed theses guys. After we all settled down Yosuke spoke up.

"So why didn't you tell us you were coming back? We could have done something awesome."

"I wanted everyone to be surprised. Truth is I didn't even know for certain that I was coming at all until two days ago."

"Well whatever the reason, it's good to have you back Partner." Teddie, Chie, Yukiko, and Kanji all verbalized their agreement.

I looked at Nanako to see her fuming, "What's up Nanako-chan?"

"YOU COULD HAVE AT LEAST TOLD ME! And Dad why didn't you tell me?" She said, her face turning red. We all stopped at her uncharacteristic outburst, then another roar of laughter filled the silence.

As we once again calmed down Dojima looked at her and said, "Nanako, honey, he just said he wanted to surprise everybody, including you. The only reason I knew is because he needed a ride from the station."

"Oh, well I'm glad you are back, but I'm still mad that you didn't tell me," she said, much more calmly. I though carefully about the best way to get back in her good graces, and then it hit me in the face like a billboard.

"How about this," I said carefully, "would it help any if I took you to Junes tomorrow?" You could see the wheels turning in her mind.

"Okay, I guess," she said getting a look on her face all to well, it was the same one Naoto gave me when she wasn't quite ready to forgive me yet. I laughed, "You've been spending a lot of time with Naoto haven't you." I said more statement than question.

"Yea, how could you tell?" She looked at me cautiously. So I told her, "You're expression, it looked exactly like one she's given me before."

"Oh, I didn't know. She's been spending a lot here with me since you left. She said being with me makes her not miss you so much. It helps me too." With that the air tuned just a little more tense. I could sense the others' uneasiness.

"Well I'm glad you two are getting along. I would be devastated if two of my favorite girls didn't like each other." I said trying to lighten things up a little. It seemed to work, everyone relaxed some and then Nanako started to yawn.

"Alright girl, I know you are happy to see your 'big brother' again, but it's time for bed." Dojima interjected. After a chorus of "good nights" she finally went off to bed, my uncle soon followed telling us to keep the noise down. Then it was just me with my friends, or at least most of them.

"Well it's getting late, we should be heading home, come on Ted. Later Partner, we should meet up at our 'special headquarters' tomorrow after you get settled in." Yosuke said grabbing the former shadow.

"Yea," I said, "sounds like a plan."

"I need to be getting home too, Yukiko if you want I can walk you to the bus stop."

"Okay Chie. See you later Souji." And with that everyone was gone, and I was alone. I couldn't wait for tomorrow; hanging out with my friends, checking out my favorite places, and most importantly, Dojima said Naoto would be getting home. I decided to go to bed, tired from my travel. I went to bed that night, and as soon as I closed my eyes, I was surrounded by a familiar blueish light.


	3. The Velvet Room and The Dream

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Chapter Three: The Velvet Room and the Dream

A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I've spent them figuring out just where this story is going and how it's going to get there. Also I came up with a new title, and the summary is going to change too, so if you haven't been keeping up with this or you are just plain new to the story, it use to be New Mystery, New Fight.

As the light surrounded me I felt a familiar warmth engulf my soul. When I was able to see I saw that I was, in fact, back in the Velvet Room. It took me a moment to orient myself, and then I heard a familiar voice speak to me.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room. It is very unusual for us to have a guest return after he has already finished his journey, but it seems as if you have yet another mystery to solve. Well shall we look to the cards?" Igor said as a deck materialized on the table between us. I spared a look at Margaret and she just smiled slightly. "Alright now what do we have here; for the past we have a World on an upright position, signifying your past achievement, completing you past journey and finding the truth. Now for the present; a Fool in the upright position, you are about to start a new journey, with a new truth to seek. And now for the future, a Priestess in the upward position; you will gain a new knowledge, and with it new power. Perhaps you will meet someone who will facilitate in this new power." He looked at me with a satisfied smile on his face. "Now we do have one thing, you have reached your full potential as we can help you, therefore you have no further need for our services, however there is one thing we can do for you. Margaret the book pleases."

"Yes Master," she said handing him the compendium.

"Here my boy, you may take this with you, may it be of use to you in you new quest. And of course you are always welcome to visit, as you are soon to under a new contract." Igor handed me the compendium. "Until we meet again," and with that everything went white again.

I woke up back in my bed, trying to figure out what just happened. I knew it was all just a dream, it always was when I went to the Velvet Room, but this time seemed different. I couldn't believe that they gave me the compendium, yet when I looked at my work table, there it was. I got up and turned on a light and picked up the tome. It was lighter than it looked. I flipped open to the first page, and there he was, Izanagi, my very first persona, along with his description and move list. I looked through a few more pages; as far as I could tell they were all there, every last one of them. Then I heard them, it started as just a mild buzzing in the back of my mind, but then it came full throttle. I could heard all of them, all 187. My mind was going into overload. As I reached up to grab my head I dropped the book and the noise quieted, it went back to just the soft buzz I felt whenever I was near my Persona.

Once I was settled down again I looked at the compendium, it had fallen open to Izanagi-no-Okami's page. I touched his card and the buzzing faded, them I heard his voice.

"Master I can feel your pain. To quiet the storm you must find the one who can show you the way. I will not be able to help you on this journey. Find she who can teach you to master your Wild Card, only then will I return to your side. But know that I am forever in your soul." With those words the card faded to black, and the words describing him were erased from the page.

Exhaustion over came me, I decided to tell my friends about everything the next morning, when I saw them. For the time though I needed to go to sleep. I let my mind wander, forgetting everything that happened that night. I had a dream that Naoto and I were in the forest. She looked at me and smiles, then a dark shadow came over us. Naoto's smile was quickly replaced with a look of fear. I tried to reach out to her, but she was to far away. I started to run toward her, but with every step I took the further out of reach she was. Then, suddenly, she was gone, and the ground gave way. I was falling, and just before I hit the bottom, I woke up.

I looked around my room, spotting the compendium again. Then I looked at my watch, it was the once that Naoto had given me for Christmas, I saw that it was already close to ten-thirty. Slowly I got up, still trembling form the disturbing dream. I pulled on my clothes and started to get ready for my day.


	4. Breakfast

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Chapter 4: Breakfast

As I got up and headed downstairs I could hear Nanako cooking breakfast. After she turned 9 her dad started letter her do more as far as using the stove. I walked down the stairs to see her making eggs and bacon, my favorites.

"Hey Nan-chan, you're up early. Is your dad still here?"

"No he got called in already. I decided to make breakfast for us. I know you like eggs and bacon, and Dad just showed me how to make it last week!" She looked at me, her eyes glowing with pride.

"Is it ready yet? I'm starving, and I can't wait to see how well you did." I was uncertain about how well it would come out, but if I learned anything last year it was to always try some when a girl cooks for you; and her previous attempts hadn't been too bad. Definitely nothing compared to "Mystery Food X" as Yosuke had dubbed it.

I sat down at the table as she was fixing my plate. That was another thing she had become big on, fixing people's plates for them. I asked her about it just before I left and she told me that she needed practice for when she becomes a wife one day. I couldn't help but laugh at the answer, and then I went on to tell her that I was sure she would make a wonderful wife, and that whoever she marries will be one of the luckiest men alive. She giggled and went back to the food.

Nanako handed me my plate and I studied it for a moment. It looked edible so I decided to try a bite. I started with the eggs; which were scrambled with some shredded cheese sprinkled on top. I got a big fork full; because when we eat American style food we use American utensils, and put it in my mouth. I was actually really good, the best I'd had in a while, she had definitely gotten my cooking skills. After I finished my eggs I moved on to the bacon, which again was perfect, it was extra crispy just how I like it.

"Wow Nanako, this is really good. I can tell you've been practicing." I said to her once I was done.

"Really, you really liked it?" She got that excited face that always showed when she is really happy and surprised at the same time.

"Yea, best I've had in a long time. You may even be better than me."

"I doubt that, but I'm really glad you liked it."

"Like it, I loved it. I can't wait to see what you have for me next time." She smiled at me, and I could tell I had made her happy, and so I was happy. I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost time for me too meet with the others. "So what are you're plans today, anything special?"

"Kind of, I'm supposed to go over to Maki's house to help her with a project we have to do for school. I wish I could just spend the day with you though." Her face fell slightly as she spoke.

"Well if you made a promise you have to keep it; I wouldn't want you to fall behind in your school work just to spend time with me. How about tomorrow, are you doing anything?"

"Nope, as long as we finish the project I won't have any plans tomorrow."

"Then it's settled, tomorrow we can spend the whole day together, and I may even see if some of my friends was to come over for dinner again tonight. How does that sound?"

"It sounds perfect! Can Teddie come, he's really funny?" She was so excited; she even started jumping around a little.

"If he doesn't have to work then I don't see why he couldn't. One of us should call your dad and make sure it's okay with him first though."

"I can do it. He usually calls to check on me during the day now, so I can ask him when he calls. I can call you after I talk to him if you want." After what happed last November I could easily understand why he started calling more often.

"Sounds like a plan. Do you want me to walk you to your friend's house? I'm just about ready to go, and I'm supposed to be meeting the others soon."

"Nah, I'll be fine, and besides, if you're going to Junes then you would be going the wrong way. Maki lives the other direction." She told me nonchalantly.

"Okay if you're sure, then I'll be going now. See you tonight Nanako; remember I have my cell if you need anything. And don't forget to ask your dad about the other's coming over tonight."

"Yea I'm sure, and I won't forget. See you tonight. What do you want for dinner?" She asked as I was heading for the door.

"Anything's fine. You know me, I'm not picky." Nanako giggled at my statement, knowing some of the things I had been known to eat.

At the last minute I decided to run upstairs and grab the compendium, maybe the others could help me make sense of what had happened the night before. When I got to my room I saw that the book had somehow closed during the night. I didn't really think anything of it, because hey it was a magical book that allowed me to summon monsters in a world inside the TV. There was weirdness all around me, so the small stuff just didn't faze me much anymore.

I grabbed it and headed back downstairs, and after shouting a quick goodbye to Nanako I left. As I was walking my mind stared to wander back to the dream, and Izanagi-no-Okami's last words. I couldn't make any sense out of it. What did he mean when he told me to master the Wild Card, and who was "she"? My mind was racing, trying to find an answer, but nothing would come. Hopefully the others would be able to give me some incite.

I was so lost in thought that I wasn't watching where I was going, nor did I head a familiar ring coming from my watch. Before I knew it I was on the ground, having run into something, or should I say, someone. I looked up to see what it was and there she was, the vary person I had been missing the most.

A/N: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to post, a lot has happened in the past few weeks. For one I got married on the first, and the last Thursday my dad dies from lung cancer. So I, along with my four sisters have been running ragged trying to get everything in order, not to mention taking time to actually grieve the loss. So with everything I haven't had the time or motivation to write, I don't really know what changed, but hopefully it will continue and I can move on with this thing. Sorry for the ramble, I'm hoping to have another chapter sometime next week after the funeral. Thanks for your patience, and please review.


	5. Time with Naoto

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Chapter 5: Time with Naoto

As I was regaining my composure and began to stand back up, I was suddenly back on the ground.

"SENPAI! You're back!" On top of me was the person I had been waiting for, my beloved girlfriend.

""Naoto, I though you weren't suppose to get in until later this afternoon. At least that's what my uncle said." I looked up at her and smiled, "Not that I mind you getting here early."

She looked at me and smiled back. "Yes, I was supposed to arrive later, but this morning I received a phone call from Nanako saying you were here. I didn't want to believe her until I saw you for myself, so I took the earliest train I could. Now I'm glad that I did." She nuzzled her head into my shoulder and hugged me the best she could, considering our position.

I kissed her hair and hugged back, then I told her, "Naoto, as much as I like you laying on top of me, perhaps we should get up, I think people are starting to stare." She looked up and around suddenly embarrassed. When she noticed that people were indeed staring she sprang up.

"Uh..um, yes perhaps you are right. Where are you going? Would it be alright if I came too?"

I looked at her and laughed a little under my breath, then picked myself up and said, "Of course you can come along; I was just heading to Junes to meet with the others. They'll be excited to see you too."

She blushed slightly, which was incredibly cute and one of the thing I love most about her, and started walking. "Oh okay then, let's go."

I stopped for a minute and looked around before spotting what was missing. When we fell I had dropped the compendium. As I went to pick it up I noticed that it had once again fallen open, this time to Pixies page. I stood there staring at the card for a moment and all of the sudden she looked at me and waved. I looked at Naoto to see if she had noticed anything, she didn't appear to.

I looked back at the card and it was normal again. I touched the card and then I heard, in a voice that sounded like a little girl but at the same time grown up, "Hello Master, we've been waiting for you heehee." I dropped the compendium again and backed away. I was use to them speaking to me, but only after I had summoned them. By then Naoto had see that I wasn't following and came to find out what was wrong.

"What's that Senpai?" She asked calmly.

"Huh, oh this, I'll explain it to everyone once we get there. Don't worry about it for now." I picked up the book and we started walking. We got a few steps when I got an idea. I quickly got close to Naoto, and grabbed her hand. Now she had never been big on PDA, but I was hoping that after we had been away from each other for so long that she would just let it go. And luckily she did. All she did was look at me with a bit of a curious glance and blush again. Did I mention how much I love it when she blushes? Because I really do.

We walked in silence most of the way there, both of us mostly taking in the familiar scenery. I knew it had only been a few moths, but I really did miss being in Inaba. The more I looked around the more I realized that the little town had become my home; more so than any other place I had ever lived, even with my parents. My uncle had become my father; Yosuke, Kanji and Teddie were my brothers; Nanako, Yukiko, Chie and Rise were my sisters; and Naoto was my world. Everything and everyone I loved was there. After a while Naoto broke the peaceful silence that had fallen over us.

"So Senpai, what have you been up to lately? Do you like your school?"

"It's alright; I haven't been doing much lately. I have a job, but with all the studying I have to do for college exams I only have time for one. Mostly that's what I do, work and study."

"Why do you have to study so much? You were always at the top of your class here in Inaba; surely the work can't be that much more difficult."

"It's not really, mostly it's to keep my mind busy, plus if I continue to review it all year then by the time exams come I will have it memorized easy. And like I said, there isn't much else to do."

"Yes, I suppose without a murder to investigate you have to fill your free time else ware." She giggled a bit at her little joke. "But what about friends, certainly you can't be lacking, you were the most popular person at Yasogami High?"

"I have a few friends, but they just don't compare to the ones I made while I was here. Also all the girls want to do is go on a date" with that she hurmphed and crossed her arms, "Don't worry, I tell every single one who approach me that I already have a girlfriend, and that she is more wonderful and amazing then they could ever hope to be." I look at her and laugh a bit. I can see her lighten up. "You have nothing to worry about Naoto, you are the only girl for me, even if you did try to be a boy." She looked at me with shock and a little anger. I took off running.

"Hey now, I stopped that by the time we stared dating." She yelled as she started chasing me. "Get back here!" I ran as fast as I could, and because I am so much bigger then her I quickly got away.

We got most of the way to Junes before anything happened. By then I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe, so I didn't notice the rock in front of me, and I fell. I laid there sprawled on the ground when she finally caught up. She just looked at me for a second before bursting out laughing herself.

"S Senpai you look so funny!" She said between fits of laughter. She started laughing so hard that she fell due to a lack of oxygen. We just stayed like that until we were able to control ourselves once again. We looked at each other and exploded once again. During all of this I couldn't help but think about how great it was to be with her again. I realized just how much she really means to me. After we settled down again we got up and started back on our way. I looked at her and noticed something different. I took me a minute to figure it out. Then I realized what it was.

"You're not binding yourself any more. And your hair is longer. Naoto, you look like a girl." I was shocked, but pleasantly so. She of course blushed.

'Umm, yes. I thought you might like it more if I appeared more feminine, also since my secret got out last year I saw no more reason to hide it. I'm not sure about the hair though, I might let it grow out some more, and if it doesn't work I can always cut it again." She pulled on her hair a bit, which was now to her mid-neck.

"I do like it, but I also liked the way you looked before." I stopped walking and turned her to face at me. "Naoto, I don't care what you look like. You look good no matter what you are wearing." I leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. "Though I do think your hair will look really cute when it's just a bit longer. But like I said, dress the way you like, if you want to change a bit then that's fine with me. Just as long as you are only doing it because you want to." I held her eyes for a minute longer before letting go.

"Oh, Senpai, I am doing this for me, you just happened to be the catalyst for the change. I have decided to embrace my femininity, not just because I think you would like it but because I am a woman. Nothing will ever change that, I realize that now, and to be completely honest, I don't care anymore. I have decided to show the world that women can make great detective too." Her eyes were shining with pride, and I couldn't be more proud of her. While it's true that I though she was beautiful no matter what, it would be nice to see her looking more womanly. We hugged for a minute and then started on our way again.

'Well I'm happy for you, just as long as you don't start acting like a complete air-head," I joked.

"Don't worry, I have no intentions of becoming anything like one of those girls."

"Good," was all I had to say to that. "Come on, we are already late, we'd better get moving."

Naoto looked at her watch. "Oh dear we are late aren't we. Well let's get going." Then she took off running. Watching her run I knew that today was going to be great.

A/N: Look it's the longest chapter yet. YAY! They are starting to get a bit longer. So things are starting to clam back down and I may be able to post more regularly. I know things are going slow, but please bear with me, there are some kinks in the plot that I am trying to work out. So as soon as thoughts are taken care of things will begin to pick up quick, though if you pay attention there have been little things in every chapter. Any way, Naoto's back so we can all rejoice. And this is a romance fic so there will be plenty as I see fit. Also what do you guys think of the new title? Now if you want more soon I suggest you review, those keep me happy and if I am happy I will write more so it's a win-win, all you have to do and click on that little button right there. Thanks for reading and see you next time.


	6. The First Attack

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Chapter 6: The First Attack

We were a few blocks away from Junes when suddenly a thick fog rolled in. We could barely see, so we grabbed each other's hands. I could tell that Naoto was scared so I put on a brave front.

"Senpai, what is this? It almost looks like…" Her sentence trailed off, but I understood what she was saying. This fog was exactly like what was in the TV world last year.

"You're right. But how did it escape again? There have been no new murders, and we cleared it up ever there." Before she could respond we heard a loud roar like sound, and something began to form in front of us. "Naoto, do you still have you're glasses with you?"

"Y yea." She was scared, but I could feel her reach into her pocket. I had kept mine too, more for sentimental value. I never expected to need them again, but as soon as I had them on I could see clearly.

"Senpai what is that thing?" I was unlike any shadow we had fought before. It was huge, towering over both of us. The thing was mostly formless, just a green mass with claws, really big, sharp, talon-like claws.

"I don't know. Man, I wish Rise were here, she could at least tell us its name and how strong it is." I looked over at her; she was trying to stand strong. I didn't blame her for being scared; we had never faced anything like this especially in the real world and without the rest of the team. "Naoto, try summoning your persona."

"But I thought they couldn't e summoned in our world."

"Yea, but it's try that or just let this thing kill us, so try. I'll try summoning too." I flipped open the compendium looking for one that would work. I decided to go powerful, since we had no clue what would work.

"What move should I use? We don't know what it's weak to, how will we know what's effective?" I found the one I was looking for.

"Go with Megidolaon, I know it take a lot but nothing has ever been resistant to Almighty power. I'll try out some elemental spells." I pulled out Kohryu, Mada, Loki, and Norn.

"But what if you get hurt?"

"Naoto, Don't worry I will be fine. Now is not the time to be panicking. Now cast that spell. LOKI BUFUDYNE!"

"Yes, YAMATO-TAKERU MEGIDOLAON!" The spells hit at almost the same time. The creature seemed to take damage from both, how much though we could not be sure. "It worked!"

"Again Naoto, this time I will go with GARUDYNE!" Again the spells hit, this time the wind didn't seem effective. "Okay, so we can figure it's not weak to wind. Maybe AGIDYNE!" That time it was knocked down.

"What do you think Senpai?" Naoto asking if we should be a co-op.

"No, I'll hit it again and see if it gets dizzy. AGIDYNE!" Luck seemed to be with us, it was dizzy. I kept attacking it with agidyne, after a few rounds the thing finally died, not getting in a single attack. I don't know if that was luck or skill, but what ever it was I was thankful. Within second the fog disappeared.

"Senpai, what was that thing? Where did it come from? Where did the fog go?" She looked at me with so much trust and admiration that it killed me not to have an answer for her.

"I don't know, but we will find out. Come on, let's hurry up and meet the others. We can go to the other world and check out what's going on."

"Right." With that we took of running, not stopping until we reached the doors to Junes. We hurried as fast as we could to the food court, when we got up there we could hear the others. It seemed as if everyone else had gotten there before us, even Rise.

Yosuke was the first to see our approach. "Hey guy's look he's finally here. And Naoto's with him. What took you so long?" Before we could answer Rise and Teddie came at us.

"OMG I missed you guys sooooo much. Did you miss me? Of course you missed me. Oh, I'm so glad we're all together again." Rise tackled us while she was talking, so we were already on the ground by the time Teddie got to us.

"Sensei, I was worried you weren't going to come. Wait, no, the others were worried; I knew my Sensei would never ditch his friends." He stood there over us, looking with curiosity. "Umm, Sensei, is this? YES Sensei is scoring with Rise and Naoto isn't he?" All three of us turned red, and you could hear Yukiko in the background yelling "CAN WE PLEASE DROP THE WHO SCORING THING?" We all looked at her for a moment before I turned my attention back to the bear in question.

"Teddie, no this is not scoring; this is Rise tackling us to the ground. Now could you please help us up?" He then reached down and grabbed my hand, pulling me up. I then proceeded to help the girls. "Now if we can all calm down, Naoto and I have something important we need to tell you." Then there was a chorus of responses, namely from Chie, Yosuke, Teddie, and Rise.

"You're getting married?"

"She's pregnant?"

"You're moving to America?"

"You're moving back here?"

I deadpanned. "No, no none of that. We were attacked on the way here. And we can summon our personas in the real world. Now we're not sure what this means, but it can't be good. Also I now have access to all of my personas at once." They all looked at me shocked. Yosuke was the first one to speak.

"Wait, what happened? Tell us from the beginning." So I did. I told them all about Igor and the Velvet Room, and the dream, and about the shadow that attacked us. It took a while to get through all of it, and even longer for them all to process it. Finally Kanji spoke up.

"So, uh, what do you want to do? I mean, yea the original investigation is over, but at least to me, you are still our leader. So what ever you decide me and Rokuten Maō will be right there with you 100%, no 110%."

"Wow Kanji, you've really grown up." Yukiko commented, "But he's right, you are still our leader. Where you go I will follow. And if there is any danger I will blast the enemy with my fire and then heal our wounds. You have me and Amaterasu."

"If Yukiko's going them I'm sure going. Can't let all that training we did go to waste, I'll be right there with Suzuka Gongen."

"I can't let them upstage me; you know I've got your back. Me and Susano-O will blow those freaks away."

"Don't forget me Senpai, I promise to use Kanzeon to show you the way."

"Yea, I'll take out ten shadows at a time with my Bear-sona."

All of their words really touched my heart; I looked at the only one who hadn't spoken.

"Senpai, you don't even need to ask. My life has changed so much ever since I met you, and I would not change any of it. You have my power, and my heart." She looked down blushing. I pulled her into a tight hug and looked at everyone.

"You guys have no idea how much this means to me. Well, you guys promised to follow me, then I promise to do what ever it takes to find out what is going on. We will find whoever or whatever is behind the fog and the attack and we will stop them. Together we can do anything, as long as we remember he bonds we have forged with one another. Now let's go back into the TV world and see what we can find. We can do this. We will do this, together." The speech was long and corny, but everyone there understood what I was saying. And together we went; ready to face our next challenge.

A/N: Well that was intense. I hope it didn't come off as too cliché, but at the same time that is what I was going for. Sorry it's been a while. Things have begun to settle down, and I had a really difficult time deciding what to do with this chapter. I think it turned out pretty well. Sorry if anyone seemed a little ooc, let me know and I'll try to watch out for it in the future. Anyway, as always thank you for reading and please review.

A/N 2.0 : I went through here and changed a few thing, the most important being the color of the shadow they faced, this will be semi-important later on so it needed to be done.


	7. Mysteries of the Fog

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Chapter 7: Mysteries of the Fog

After that show of overwhelming loyalty showed to me by my team we quickly walked down to the electronics department. Luckily for us no one was there, so with Chie and Yosuke standing guard I stuck my hand in, just to make sure we could still get in; other than Teddie, we hadn't tried since before I left. It worked so I dove in, followed by Naoto and the others. Yosuke was the last one. Once we were all in we looked around and were surprised by what we saw.

The land was still as beautiful as we left it, but the whole thing was covered in fog. It wasn't as thick as before, but to see fog here again was not reassuring.

"What! What is going on here? I thought we got rid of the fog last spring. Why is it back?" Chie said looking around.

"I don't know Chie, but look it's not that thick, we don't even need our glasses to see." With that Yosuke gave me a bit of inspiration. I grabbed my glasses out of my pocket and put them on.

"Guys, put on your glasses, you are not going to believe this." They all did and from the way things looked and sounded they were just as shocked as I was.

"What the, why aren't they working? Teddie! I thought these things were suppose to work here."

"Chie calm down, I'm sure Ted there is just as confused as the rest of us." Yosuke was right, looking at Teddie I could see that he had no idea what was going on.

"Yea, I don't know anymore about this then the rest of you. This fog wasn't here when I left yesterday. Something must have happened while I was with you guys." We looked around a bit then Yukiko spoke up.

"Wait, so Teddie, you didn't come back here last night after you left Souji's house?"

"Nope, on the way back Yosuke and I decided that I would stay the night with him, for old time's sake." We looked at Yosuke.

"What? I thought it would be easier then having to wait for him to come back." Yukiko stated speaking again.

"Okay so that explains why he didn't see anything, but it doesn't explain why the glasses aren't working. I am assuming that everyone saw the same thing."

"I believe that it a correct assumption Yukiko-senpai. We also must take into consideration that they did work for Souji and me earlier, when we were being attacked." Silence fell over the group for a few minutes, until Kanji spoke up.

"Maybe this here is just normal fog."

We all looked at him then I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, if the glasses aren't working then maybe there is nothing mystical about this fog. Is it really so hard to believe that just because this world is mystical that it doesn't have normal weather"

"Interesting theory Kanji, I don't know if I concur, but it does seem like a possibility. It could also be that Teddies glasses were made for that specific kind of fog. So if this is an entirely different kind, with a different source, then it also stands to reason that the properties in the glasses that made them work before are no longer effective. Furthermore the fog earlier was accompanied by a shadow, so maybe the shadows somehow create the fog surrounding them, thus allowing Souji and me to use the glasses and our persona. That is another thing we seem to have forgotten, we summoned our person, in the real world. That is not something we have been able to do previously. For that I have two possible theories, either we were able to do so because of the fog, or it is possible that it was because we were in immediate danger."

"I don't know Naoto; I mean I was able to speak with my person last night. As you said that is not something I have been able to do before, and there was no fog and my life certainly was not in any danger. It could be that we are simply getting stronger and have a deeper connection to them. When we leave I was the rest of you to try to summon your personas or at least contact them."

"Wow, all this thinking is making my head hurt, I thought we were suppose to be on vacation."

"Chie, just because it's summer break does not mean you can give up on thinking. I mean at the very least we do have homework to do."

"I know Yukiko, but still I have got a killer headache." During their exchange I realized that Rise hadn't said anything in a while, and let's face it, she likes to talk. So I looked for her. I found her over by a large rock, just staring off into the distance.

"Rise,"she didn't answer me, or even acknowledge me so I tried again a little louder, "Rise!"

"Huh, what? Oh Souji-senpai, what's up?"

"I was just about to ask you the same question. You were just staring off into space. Is there a problem?"

"Oh, no I just thought I felt something over there. I'm happy to know you were care enough to worry about me though."

"Of course I care about you; you're part of the team. I care about everyone here. Now you said you thought you felt something, like what? Was it a shadow or another person?"

"I don't really know; it kinda feels like it could be a human, but at the same time it doesn't. I don't think it's a shadow though."

"Have you tried to summon Kanzeon?" She looked surprised at that, I'm pretty sure the thought hadn't even crossed her mind.

"No, why didn't I think of that. Okay, give me a sec." With that there was a flash of light and behind Rise stood a ten foot tall woman with a satellite for a head. By then the others had noticed what was going on and started coming over to use. Yosuke was the first to speak.

"What's going on Partner, why's she got Kanzeon out?" There was a slight chorus sounding the others mutual confusion.

"She thought she felt something or someone's presence. Now she's trying to get a better idea of what's out there." Then Naoto stepped forward and spoke.

"Hmm, so we now know that we can still summon our personas here, but what do you mean, she felt something? Like a shadow or was it human?"

"She wasn't sure, let's just give her a minute to figure it out. She did say that it was almost definitely not a shadow." Just then Rise shouted.

"I got it; there is a person a few meters from our current location, about where Yukiko-senpai's castle was. But there is something different about this person, I can't quite tell what though."

"But how did someone else get in here, does that mean they have a person too?" Chie looked around trying to find someone to answer her question.

"I don't know Chie, probably, but we can't count out what Rise said. She said this person felt different, can you describe to us what you meant Rise?"

"I can try. It was like this person was human, but with a little bit of shadow in them, not like Teddie though. I think if the person was like Teddie, I would know. I was almost like the feel I get when I sense another persona user, but darker."

Kanji then took a turn speaking, "Darker, like how?"

"I'm not quite sure, like I said it was almost like a shadow was looming over them, but there was only one presence. I don't know it doesn't make much sense."

"No it doesn't, and the only way we will be able to figure it out is to go see for ourselves. You said it was over by where the castle was, alright Yukiko and Rise lead the way." I looked at them, putting as much confidence and authority in my voice as I could.

I could see Yukiko's dislike of the idea. She didn't even like going to that area, even knowing that the castle was no longer there, but she didn't say anything. She just turned toward the place in question and began walking. Chie ran up to her and grabbed her hand trying to comfort her. I know there were a lot of questions about Kanji's orientation, but sometimes looking at those two girls I have to wonder if they have something going on.

If there is then I have to feel sorry for Yosuke, he told me in an e-mail just last month that he had gotten over his thing for Saki Konishi and now had his eye on Chie. I thought it was a bit strange at first, but now I could see it, unless of course she wanted Yukiko instead. Oh well, nothing I could do about it, I just want as many of my team member as possible to be happy. Instead I focused on my own happiness. I walked up to Naoto, who was in the back of the group and grabbed her hand. She looked at me and smiled, then leaned up and kissed me on the cheek and we ran to catch up with the others. Yea, as far as I was concerned, life was pretty good. If only I had known how drastically things were about to change.

A/N: So another chapter is here at last. Sorry I haven't been posting very often, I'm having a bad bout of writer's block and can't decide how to take some things. As of right now I have not decided on final parings, so if there is a specific one you want then review and let me know. I am open to any except changing Naoto and Souji; they are the only paring set in stone at the moment. Chie will almost certainly be with Yukiko or Yosuke but I have yet to decide which, and I do not have any ideas for Rise, Teddie, and Kanji, if I even decide to do something with them at all. So, yeah, if you have a particular favorite then let me know.

Now I am not going to set a specific number of reviews I want before I continue, but I will remind you all that the more reviews I get the sooner I will post and the more likely I will be to end this well, I still haven't even decided if it's going to have a happy ending or not, so review and they might just come out of this alive and well.


	8. Romi Dalian and Kyo Itama

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Chapter 8: Romi Dalian and Kyo Itama

A/N: Okay first I will address some reviews

Arcananox- I am really glad you like it and hope you continue to enjoy this as I continue.

Natzo- For your concerns about Naoto, I am going more for character growth than ooc-ness, but if it continues to get out of hand, and I get more people raising issue with it I will revise and bring her back to more like she is in the game. Also if you could pm me with the parts that were weird for you I can see what I can do to clear them up. Just copy and paste the specific paragraphs or lines into the message.

kurosukurenai-You reviewed for chapter 5, I am glad you like this so much, and I hope you continue to enjoy it. It was my goal from the beginning to take these characters to the next level in all aspects of their lives. We will continue to see the characters grow and learn more about themselves throughout the entire story. Also I want to thank you for your condolences; it has been a difficult time for my family and me. However I feel that it is time to move forward, I think that is what my father would have wanted.

Now that those are taken care of I want to let all of you that I hope you are enjoying my work and want to thank you for taking your time to read it. Soon I will be introducing some oc's, and I really want your opinions on them. Also there will be something special about one of their names, whoever can figure it out will get a special shout out in the next chapter. Now without further ado your feature presentation.

We walked for quite a while, longer I think than it ever took to get there before. After about a half hour we began hearing something. We realized that it was music, a lone flute. It was really faint at first, but as we got closer it gradually got louder. When we finally were at the site we hid before the person could see us. We needed a plan in case this person wasn't friendly. I peered out from where we were hiding and noticed that there were two people, a guy and a girl, instead of the one we were expecting.

I looked at Rise questioningly; she must have understood what it meant because she whispered to me, "I don't understand, I can sense the girl, she's the one with the weird aura, but I'm getting nothing from the boy. It's like he's not really there."

"Hmm," I said, "this could be serious. If there are people that Rise can't sense then we could definitely be in trouble. However I don't want to just assume that these people mean us any harm." Just then we heard the flute stop and the people began to speak.

"Kyo," said the girl "is something wrong? You seem upset, are you not enjoying my playing?" Her voice was soft and rather feminine, but her words carried an authority with them.

Then the man began to speak, "No Miss Romi, your playing was wonderful as ever, but I felt something. Please allow me to take a look around." By the way he spoke we could tell that he was subservient to her. His voice was rather masculine.

"Don't be silly Kyo, I'll send one of them to look around. Or you could summon Gama and be done with it. Honestly Kyo why do you have to insist on doing everything the hard way? Besides what if it's the person we are looking for and you scare him off? That won't do very well. Oh well," then her voice changed a little, "Go my little love take a look around for me please."

"My apologies Miss Romi."

We looked around at each other, wondering who it was that they were looking for. I couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was one of us. And if so then which one and what did they want with that person? Also I wondered who Gama was. Could he be a persona, they way they were talking about it sounded like he was like Rise. They didn't seem evil, but then neither did Adachi, so I decided to play it safe.

I motioned for the others to move back before they caught us, but before any of us could move something zipped past us. As if noticing us it came back and looked at each of us carefully. It seemed to be looking for something, perhaps the person that 'Romi" girl was looking for. When it got to be I noticed that it looked very much like my pixie, but dressed in green instead of blue. After taking a long look at me she sped off back to where the two were. There was a moment of silence before the girl started speaking again.

"Oh, good news Kyo, she says that we've found him. He should be right over there. In fact they can probably hear us right now." She sounded happy.

"They, miss Romi? I thought we were only looking for one person." There was a worry in his voice.

"Of, yes we are only looking for him specifically, but he seems to have found a whole team. She says there are seven more of them. He must be very good to draw out so many others. Now Kyo don't give me that look. We knew when we were given this assignment that there would probably be others. Now let's go ever and introduce ourselves, before they get the wrong idea."

We heard a sigh and then "Yes Miss Romi."

Unsure of what to do I motioned everyone to stand up. We could hear them coming towards us. I had everyone get their cards ready, just in case. Then finally we were able to see each other. They walked slowly as if trying not to scare us away.

The girl was about an average height, with long black hair pulled back in a braid, she had green eyes and was wearing what looked like a Chinese battle kimono. The guy with her towered over her, almost as tall as Kanji, he wore simple clothes, not baggy but loose enough to move around with no problem. His hair was also black, but his eyes were brown. From the way he walked it was easy to tell that he was protective of her. Upon closer inspection I could see that they were both carrying weapons. At his hip there was a whip and on his back there was a dual broad sword. She was carrying a large staff scythe almost twice her height. The sight was rather intimidating, especially considering that we didn't bring our own weapons. Upon that realization I almost kicked myself. When they got close enough the girl began to speak.

"Hello, are you by any chance Souji Seta?" I wasn't sure how to respond, but decided that it was best to stay with the truth.

"Yes. Now who are you?" I said stepping forward a bit. I could feel my friend's unease as I did.

"Oh, good I was hoping you would be. You look exactly as the elders described you. And as to whom we are, I am Romi Dalian, and this is my partner, bodyguard and analyzer Kyo Itama. Here Kyo, take my Zamana." She then handed the scythe to her partner and walked over to me. She then bowed respectfully. I bowed back to be polite. "I am impressed at how many others you managed to find. It seems to be true that people like us tend to attract others to us."

"People like us, others, what do you mean?" I asked

"By others I mean persona users, and by people like us, I mean Wild Cards." She giggled as she spoke, as if it were obvious. I was shocked. I knew that there were other Wild Cards, but I never imagined I would ever meet one of them.

"Oh." Was all I managed to say. "So that means that you can use multiple personas too?"

"Yes, I have the potential to summon 53 different personas. In fact you already met one. How many can you summon?" I thought for a moment, so that little pixie thing was a persona.

"I can summon up to 187, well 177 one of them is locked right now."

"178! Wow, see Kyo, I told you we needed him. That's amazing, they didn't tell us that." She seemed to be truly amazed by the number. As she was going on about it Naoto spoke up.

"Excuse me, what do you mean we already met one? Was that the little thing that stared at Senpai so long?"

"Huh, oh yes. That was my Neo-pixie. Now who are you?" It didn't appear that she was trying to be rude, but that was certainly how that came out. I could see the insult in Naoto's face.

"I am..." she started but I interrupted her.

"She is a member of my team, and should be treated with respect. That is how I expect all of my teammates to be treated." I gave Romi a stern look.

"Oh, I didn't mean to come off as rude. I do apologize. Sometimes I forget that I am not among my clansmen. Again I offer my sincerest my apologies." She seemed sincere. So I let it slide for now. "Not let me rephrase, who might you be? I have been given no information about any of Seta's companions."

"Better." I said. "Now let me introduce my team. This here is Naoto Shirogane, she's a detective. Over there with the headphones and red hair is Yosuke Hanamura. Next to him are Chie Satonaka, with the track jacket, and Yukiko Amagi, her family runs the local inn. To my right is Kanji Tatsumi, and beside him is Rise Kujikawa, you might know her from TV. And last is Teddie over there."

After I finished Kyo spoke, but only to Romi. "Miss Romi, that one there gives off a strange aura." Under her breath I heard Rise comment, "Funny coming from somebody who gives off no aura." They didn't seem to hear her so I let it go.

"Oh, how so Kyo?" Romi looked at Teddie with new interest.

"He feels like a shadow." Was all he said, venom dripping off his words.

"Well that is interesting. Mind telling me why that is?"

Before I could say anything Teddie Chimed in, "That's because I use to be a shadow." He said this with a large smile on his face, like it's the best news anyone will ever hear. I ran my fingers through my hair. As if sensing my frustration Naoto discreetly put a hand on my elbow. In the time we had been together she had become more comfortable showing her affections around our friends, but was still shy around others. This morning, I believe, was a fluke; she was probably just overexcited about seeing me again after so long. I smiled at her then moved to intervene.

Kyo had moved in between Romi and the rest of us and asked, 'What are you doing associated with some of _them?_" He said it with so much disgust that it was almost tangible. "Don't you know how dangerous they are? How can you be so foolish? It'll probably revert to its former self any second to destroy us all!"

It was the most he had spoken then whole time and every word he said burned at my heart. I had not felt so angry in a long time, and Naoto seemed to sense it because she slowly backed away. I looked back at Teddie who looked like he was about to cry. Rise was there trying to comfort him, as was Kanji. Chie and Yosuke looked like they were about to punch Kyo, and Yukiko just looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

I turned back to where Kyo and Romi were standing and striated myself up to my full height. My eyes were burning with anger and I spoke in as calm a voice as I could manage.

"Listen here Kyo Itama; you do not talk about _any_ member of my team like that. As he stated he _use_ to be a shadow. He hasn't been one for over a year. He even has a persona. And if I _ever_ hear you speak about him like that again you will personally see just how many personas I have. Like I said I expect _every_ member of my team to be treated with respect. Do not judge him based on what he once was, but as he is now." I then looked directly at Romi, "You said you need my help, well I can guarantee that insulting one of my friends is _not_ the way to elicit it. If you were to get to know him you would realize that he is little more than a child in a teenager's body. He is one of the sweetest, most caring, and goofy people I know. Now if you can put your prejudice aside I will hear you out. If you don't think you can manage that then leave now." The others sounded their agreement and Naoto was once again by my side.

Romi looked deep in thought for a moment before speaking. "Alright Souji Seta, I will give your Shadow Boy a chance. However if he shows any indication that he might hurt somebody I will eliminate him immediately."

I looked at her closely, "If you so much as try to hurt him I will stop you. He would never hurt anyone."

"Understood, Kyo stand down." Her voice softening slightly but still holding authority.

"But…" he began to protest.

KYO, you forget your place. I said stand down." The authority in her voice could not be denied.

"Yes Miss Romi." He backed away reluctantly.

"Now," Romi began, this time speaking to me, "back to business. As you know we need your help. What you do not know however is that the fate of the world rests in our defeating this new evil."

"So what is it that we are up against?" She had caught my interest.

She looked directly at me as she spoke. "It is not so much of a what as a whom. This person goes by many names, but we know this person as the Shadow Summoner."

A/N: Yay, now the title makes sense. SO what do you guys think about my attempt at a cliff hanger. Also I tried to make a border, but I don't know if it will work, but at least I tried. What do you think about Romi and Kyo? I know I made them kinda jerky right now, but trust me they will get better, I think. Anyway, review and let me know. Also, check it out I hit over 2000 words, that's a record for me as far as single chapters/oneshots, and I only have one oneshot that hits this many. So another yay. Later.


	9. Shadow Summoner

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Chapter 9: Shadow Summoner

"Every one of us here has faced our other selves and accepted it as a part of who we are, thus gaining the power to use our Persona in battle. Have any of you ever wondered what would have happened if you had not accepted it? The answer is quite simple, the shadow self would have become corrupted and taken over the original person. The person's heart would darken and they would be granted the ability to summon and control shadows. We in my clan call that person a Shadow Summoner. So to put it simply a Shadow Summoner is created when a person faces their true self and fails to accept it. A Shadow Summoner is pure evil; the corruption takes the original's hopes and dreams and twists them until they too are evil. We have no way of knowing what the Shadow Summoner is after until we know exactly who it is. And even then, we will need to know everything we can about who they were before the corruption took over."

We all sat in silence for a few minutes, absorbing what Romi had just told us. Naoto was the first to break the silence.

"How do we find out who this Shadow Summoner is? And when we do what are we suppose to do? I s there a way to save this person or are we suppose to…" She trailed off, obviously not wanting to think about the other possibility.

"There are ways to track the Summoner; Kyo here is able to sense him, as will your own analyst once given the proper training. As for what to do when we find him, there is no known way to bring someone back once corrupted. We do have a way to block the ability to summon, however that would involve capturing him first. That will not be an easy task, it would be much simpler to just kill him, but I can see that you are all against that so we will try it your way. Just know this; he will kill you given the chance. He no longer has any sense of mercy. Given the chance your death would be painful and drawn out."

"How could you possibly know that? You don't know who it is, maybe he wouldn't kill us."

"Rise, was it, you are a foolish girl. I know this because I have studied these particular monsters ever since I awakened my power. There has never been a Shadow Summoner ever to show mercy. There are records depicting the murder of their own families in the most gruesome and tortuous ways imaginable. While it may be true that each one has differed, it has never been that much. No, if you leave yourself open to a Shadow Summoner you will die."

Rise drew back. By then I had heard enough. I decided I needed to step in.

"Everyone we need to calm down. Look Dalian we understand that you are just trying to warn us, but this isn't our first fight. Last March we took down a god. We can handle ourselves. And the rest of you, we need to keep in mind that what she is saying is probably true. This is not our first time tracking someone bent on killing us. Think about it, last winter Adachi would have murdered us all, he tried to kill us. And most of us he tried to have killed by Namatame. We all have to watch our backs until we figure this one out."

"Hey Senpai's right. This isn't our first show. Let's kick this guy's ass. And who knows maybe we'll figure out a way to save this sap along the way." Kanji's outburst surprised us all but he was right.

"Nicely put Kanji, our first order of business is to find out who we a fighting. Dalian, you said that Itama could sense him?"

She looked at me, "Yes, and he can teach your analyst to sense him too."

"Alright then, Rise you will work with Itama." She gave me a look, obviously she was still upset about what he said about Teddie, "I know Rise, but we have to get along for now."

"Fine." I could hear the annoyance in her voice.

"Since you seem to have everyone under control, I will concede leadership to you. My scythe and Kyo's whip and blades are at your service."

"Miss Romi…"

"No Kyo, this is his team and his territory. We will abide by the code and offer our knowledge and abilities to him."

"Yes Miss Romi."

"Good Kyo. Also why don't you guys just call us by our first names since we will be working together?" Seeing them interact together was interesting. It was very obvious that she was in charge.

"Alright. Is there anything else we should know for the time being?" I could tell there was a lot more she wanted to say, but it was getting late and everyone was tired.

'Only this, Rise is not the only one receiving training. Everyone has more abilities than can be learned by ones self. You need careful guidance to be able to reach into the inner recesses of your heart. So starting tomorrow I will be working with the rest of you to help you reach your full potential." I have to say I was very curious about what she was saying, but I needed some rest and I wanted some alone time with my girlfriend.

"Okay then, let's meet back at Junes in the morning. From there we can come back here to begin our training. Where are you two staying tonight?"

"We planned on staying here." I was slightly shocked by the statement, but not entirely.

"Are you sure? Between all of us we could probably find someplace for you guys to stay. As a matter of fact I insist it. Alright who can keep them?" The look of shock on both of their faces was hilarious.

"I would, but I'm keeping Teddie with me." So Yosuke was out.

"I could probably take Romi with me"

"Thank you for the offer Chie, but we would prefer staying together." Kyo nodded in agreement.

"Well then my place is our, Ma would freak if I asked for a chick to stay over. What about you Yukiko, any extra rooms at the inn?" Again Kanji brought up an good point.

"Hmm, we might have some. Since the murders last year we haven't been as busy, so I could ask my mother."

"An inn, I hadn't even thought of that. Kyo check the money father sent with us, is there enough?"

"Yes Miss Romi." He looked in a small bag he was carrying. "How much is it?"

"Oh, well that depends on the size of the rooms. Come over here and I'll see what can be worked out." They walked a little away from the group to discuss prices and such.

"Okay so while they figure out that stuff why don't the rest of us head back? Chie, Yosuke can you stay behind and help them. Teddie can go with Kanji for now."

"Alright." Chie agreed easily.

"Why do I have to take the bear?" Kanji complained.

"Because I'm sure Rise and Naoto are still tired from their trips, and I have a few things I need to check on. Come on Kanji it's not that bad. Here I'll give you some money for Topsicles and animal crackers."

"Fine, but I'd better find the penguin this time. Come on Teddie." They walked off together back towards the entrance.

"Actually I think I'll go with them. Hey Kanji, Teddie wait up." With that Rise took off.

"I'm going to go see what's taking Kyo and Yukiko so long." Romi then went off in the direction those two headed.

"Okay, you two will be alright?" I asked Chie and Yosuke.

"Yea, no problem partner. Good luck with whatever you are doing."

"Yea we'll be fine. They can't be too much longer."

"Alright then we are going to head on back." I turned to leave, motioning for Naoto to follow me.

"Okay, see you guys tomorrow." Then Chie and Yosuke started following after Romi and the other two.

"Let's go Naoto." Once everyone was gone I grabbed her hand as we were walking.

"You just manipulated everyone so we could spend some time together alone didn't you." She looked at me accusingly. I just smiled at her and responded.

"So what if I did. I worked and everyone is happy. Now I say we should go somewhere can catch up."

"I suppose since you went to all that trouble." She said while giggling slightly. So we walked off back to the TVs and reentered our world. From there we went to our favorite spot, the highest hill in Inaba.

We talked for hours. We had only been apart for a few months, but we were both very busy people so there was a lot to talk about. I think that was probably one of the best nights of my life, if not the most relaxing. I told her about school and the friends I was making there, and about my new fan club, she wasn't too thrilled about that part, but it's kind of cute to see her get jealous. Of course I reminded her that she had nothing to worry about, none of those other girls could hold a candle to her.

After I calmed her fears she told me about work and the new cases she's been dealing with, and about what's been going on here in Inaba. Turns out that Kou discovered that he really did like Ai and they started dating about a month ago. She also told me about Kanji's doll making business and how it was booming. Apparently he was starting to get a new rep as the "best doll maker in Japan." He even had people coming in from other cities.

Naoto told me that not much had changed with the rest, Yukiko started helping out at the inn even more than before, but this time she was really enjoying herself, and Chie and Yosuke still fought every day about something or another. She told me about the time she was spending with Nanako and how they were quickly growing into close friends, Nanako even called Naoto her big sis sometimes. That made me happy to hear. I was really glad that they got along so well, it would be horrible if the two most important girls in my life hated each other, but that wasn't the case so I didn't have to worry. While we were talking an idea came into my mind. One that had been there before and after spending the entire evening with her I decided that I needed to do it. The only problem would be timing.

A/N: So here's another chapter. I'm a little sad that no one got the name thing, or at least didn't review about it. So I'll just tell you, the special name is Romi Dalian which is a mix of Naoto's Japanese and American voice actresses Romi Pak and Susan Dalian, okay so maybe I'm the only one lame enough to do that, but oh well, now I'm actually kind of fond of the name. Sorry it took so long to post, I had the hardest time figuring out how to explain everything, and to he honest I don't really like how the chapter came out, but it got the job done so I'll post it anyway. Hopefully the next chapter will be better. Oh and if someone knows how t make those boarder things then please let me know. Until next time, please review.


	10. Awkward Walks and Another Attack

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- Chapter 10: Awkward Walks and Another Attack

The next morning started out rather uneventful. I got up, got in the shower, got dressed and went down for breakfast. By the time I finished breakfast it was time to go meet up with the others at Junes. Just as I was about to walk out the door the doorbell rang. When I answered it I found Rise on the other side.

"Oh, hi Senpai, I almost forgot you were here! I have a present for Nanako, is she up yet?"

"Hey Rise, and yea she's up. Come on in and I'll call her down for you." I stepped aside to let my hyperactive underclassman in, then turned and walked over to the stairs. "Nanako, there's someone here to see you!" With that I heard Nanako come racing out of her room and down the stairs.

"Really, who is it? I'm not expecting anybody." Then she noticed the idol, now standing in the living room. She smiled brightly as she called out to her. "Rise, you're here! The others told me you were coming back soon, but I didn't expect you to come here. Aren't you here for Big Bro? He said someone was here for me, is there someone else here?" Rise giggled at Nanako's excitement.

"No silly girl, I am here to see you. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see Senpai too, but this time I came just for you. Here I brought you a present." Rise smiled as she handed the small case she was holding to the smaller girl.

"Really? Thank you Rise!"

"It's an advance copy of my new album that's being released this winter. We already finished recording, now all that's left is marketing and all the boring stuff. They were so happy that I decided to come back that they let me have a few copies to give to my friends." Rise and Nanako were both smiling by then. Nanako rushed over to Rise and hugged her.

"Thank you so much Rise, I'm sure I will love it. I already do. You're such a good singer"

"Aww, thank you Nanako, I really hope you do enjoy it." I stood back and watched the two interact, happy that my friend's are so accepting of my little cousin. I can remember what she was like when I first moved to Inaba, so quiet and reserved, now she's like a whole other person. As much as I liked seeing the two get along, if we didn't go soon, Rise and I were going to be late meeting with the others. I was about to say this to Rise when the doorbell rang again.

"I'll get it." I said as I walked over to the door once again. I opened it this time to find my lovely girlfriend waiting for me. "Hey Naoto, what brings you here this early?"

"I…um… was wondering if you would like to walk with me to meet the others." She asked shyly.

"Sure thing, Rise is here too, so I hope you don't mind her coming along." I knew that while Rise and Naoto were close friends, Naoto did not like how much Rise would hang all over me. It got a bit better after we told the other's that we were together, but Rise was not the type to give up so easily.

"W…why is she here… so early?" I could hear the slightest hint of jealousy in her voice.

"How many times do I have to tell you Naoto, I love you, you have nothing to worry about." To give her some extra reassurance I leaned down and kissed her cheek. She blushed deep red and hung her head a bit. "Besides Rise isn't even here to see me, she came to give Nanako a present. Now come on in and say hello, my beautiful, paranoid love."

"I…I never said anything about being worried or anything like that." She looked up at me defiantly.

"I know Love, but you forget that I know you, and like I said there is nothing to worry about." With that I stepped out of the doorway to let her in. Luckily Rise and Nanako were still wrapped up in their discussion of something or other and did not hear Naoto and my conversation. After she got her shoes of I grabbed Naoto's hand and led her into the living room. "Hey guys look who came to join the party."

"Naoto," Rise ran and hugged her. "I'm soo happy to see you, now I don't have to wait to give you your present. Here," Rise then pulled another CD out of her purse and handed it to a very startled Naoto. "It's my new CD that's gonna be released this winter, they gave me some copies to give to my friends."

"Rise, you just saw me yesterday. You are acting like you haven't seen me in months; that being said, thank you for the gift." Naoto smiled warmly. I knew that she was happy to see Rise, despite her uncomfortableness with Rise's personal space issues.

"Big Sis, I'm so happy to see you. How did your case go? Did you solve it? How long are you going to be back?" Naoto laughed at the girl's enthusiasm.

"I'm happy to see you too Nanako. My case went well and yes I did solve it. It was fairly simple. As for how long I will be back, well that depends on when I get my next case, though I do intend to stay at least as long as Souji-senpai is still here." At that Nanako got a determined look on her face that I know she had to have picked up from Naoto.

"Well good. You two need to spend more time together. Dad said that people who love each other should spend lots of time together. And since you guys live in different cities you don't get to spend much time together." I couldn't help but laugh at her innocent summation of how relationships work.

"Well, "I said, "I hate to break up the fun but Naoto, Rise and I have some where we are suppose to be and if we don't leave soon we will be late." Rise and Naoto looked at their watches to see that I was correct. They both then said their goodbyes to Nanako and started to move towards the door to get their shoes. "I'll see you later Nanako, sorry to do this to you two days in a row, but I promise soon we will all go out and have fun, you included." I really did feel guilty about leaving her like that, but when the fate of the world is at stake there really isn't much you can do.

"It's okay Big Bro; I know you have a lot of catching up to do with the others. We can play later." She smiled up at me.

"Right, I'll see you tonight." I ran up stairs to grab the compendium, and then joined the two girls waiting for me and we left the house and headed for Junes.

The walk was uneventful. Naoto and Rise spent most of it catching up and I just fell back a bit and let them. Along the way we met up with Kanji and he stayed back with me. Things had become strained between Kanji and me ever since he found out about Naoto and me, so it was a little awkward. I didn't doubt his reliability and he didn't seem to have any issues with my continued command, in fact he was one of the first to pledge their loyalty just yesterday, so I did not worry about it to much. I knew that it would eventually have to be dealt with, just as Naoto and Rise's issues would, but they did not seem to be interfering with their ability to function within the group, so for now I could hold off on that particular issue. Also I was hoping that Naoto and Rise could work through theirs on their own, I did not want to get in the middle of that.

We were almost at Junes when, just like the previous day, a dense fog surrounded us. This time Naoto and I knew a bit better what to do, se we instantly went for our glasses. Rise and Kanji, noticing what we were doing, quickly followed suite. I then opened the compendium ready to pull whoever would do the best damage, choosing Norn for my default. I saw the other three pull out their persona cards as well. Within seconds four black blobs started to form and then transform into the monsters they truly were.

They were similar to the ones we fought yesterday, except this time they were almost pure white. Rise called out Kanzeon and scanned them for weaknesses.

"Okay, so they are called Ice Morphous. They have 650 health and 200 SP, and it's weak to Zio."

"Okay, that sounds doable. Kanji I want you to hit them with everything you've got. Naoto do you have your gun?" I looked over at her as Kanji was getting ready for go through with his attack.

"Yes, after yesterday's event I thought it might be necessary." She smiled at me, already knowing what she was to do. I was about to summon Odin when I took a hit with a Bufudyne, luckily Norn is strong to ice so I didn't take to much damage. Naoto then shot at the one who attacked me. I was almost glad Yukiko wasn't there because with her weakness to ice she would have been toast. Then battle went on for a few minutes, they were not very strong, but they were fast, so our attacks missed several times. I managed to get out Odin and got out a Maziodyne at the same time as Kanji so all of them were down and dizzy.

"Good job everyone, now let's finish them off!" With that Kanji, Naoto and I each sent out one more attack and they were gone. Just like the previous day the fog dispersed almost immediately once the shadows were gone. I looked around the scene for a minute and found two white claws I could probably sell to Daidara later. I then turned to look at my teammates. I could see that I wasn't the only one who got hit by those things. Naoto's hat looked frozen and her hair had some ice crystals in it, and Kanji's left foot was thawing, and Rise, as usual came out unscathed. "Good work everyone; now let's get going before some more show up. I'm sure the others will be interested to know what happened." No one else said a word so we moved on.

When we got to Junes I pulled Naoto aside and looked over at Kanji and Rise. "You guys go on ahead I want to talk to Naoto for a minute." They both gave me looks of irritation, but went on anyways.

"Senpai, what's the meaning of this? Is there something you need?" Naoto looked at me curiously. I smiled at her.

"Mostly I wanted to make sure you are alright, and I wanted to ask if you have any thoughts on the day's events so far." She thought for a moment before answering.

"First off, I am fine; I did not sustain any serious damage, though I am a bit worried about my hat." She then took off the item in question and examined it. The ice was melting and it looked, to me, like it was going to be fine. After, apparently coming to she same conclusion, she out the hat back on her head. "As far as the attack it's self, I am a bit concerned. Doesn't it seem weird to you that two days in a row now the two of us have been attacked just as we were approaching Junes? Could this Shadow Summoner person be after one of us, or could it be something about this store in particular?" She had a pensive look on her face as she spoke.

"I agree that it does seem strange. At this point we can't rule out anything. I'm not sure if I should say we stick together and help protect one another or split up and see which one gets attacked. I know I don't want you alone if they are after you, but at the same time I don't want to put you in further danger if they are after me. And if it's the store they are after then no one is safe." I grabbed Naoto and pulled her to me, inhaling her sent and she wrapped her arms around me. I was lucky no one else was there, or she would have pulled away instead. "What should I do? I know I am supposed to be the leader here, but this time I really need your help." She looked up at me, kissed my cheek, and then settled back into my embrace before speaking.

"For one thing, I will not leave you. I know you want to keep me safe, but I am just as involved in this as you are. I will not leave you to yourself, should this person be after you. I will help protect you, as you would help protect me. Remember, we are equals in this, even if I am your underclassman." Then she whispered, "I love you Souji." I kissed the top of her head, through her hat.

"I love you too Naoto. So I suppose we are in agreement here. Neither of us is willing to leave the other by them self to face this monster, so I guess our only option is to stay together at all times." She pulled away and gave me a look.

"You know that's not possible. What about at night, I'm sure your uncle won't let me stay over with you, nor will he let you stay at my house, but I do agree that we should try to stay with each other as much as we can." She then grabbed my hand and pulled me to the elevator. "Come on, the others have to be wondering where we are by now."

"Alright, let's go my dear Detective Princess" She gave me another look. She hated it when I called her that, but she looked so cute when she was annoyed that I could never help myself. Once we got into the elevator and it closed I pulled her in to a kiss. Once we broke apart she was no longer annoyed at me about the Detective Princess comment. We waited in silence for the rest of the ride up to the food court.

A/N: So here is another chapter done with. I didn't get near as much as I wanted to in it, but I do like how it turned out. I was really disappointed in the complete lack of reviews for the last chapter, so that might account for why I took so long getting this one out. I am planning on going through all the chapters soon and fixing any mistakes I've made or any inconsistencies in the story so far, so if you have a major issue or have noticed any outrageous mistakes let me know. I already went in and changed a few things in chapter 6, but there will probably be more to come. Until next time, adieu.


End file.
